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A decent camera, mic, and working knowledge of OBS software is all you need to start a stream. But turning your stream into an interactive show is another step that will invite your viewers to cheer, donate, and follow along with you. Luckily, there are a few easy options for streamers looking to make streams more engaging, and they require little to no prior experience.

Stream alerts are the onscreen notifications that appear when a viewer interacts with a stream in some way. If someone donates, for instance, an alert naming the viewer and donation amount will pop up, often with a sound effect and gif. Alerts are an easy addition to engage with your audience: Viewers get to feel like theyre a part of the show when their donations, follows, and subscriptions get recognized. And the visuals and sounds you use for alerts are easily customizable, and can match your streams aesthetic or sense of humor.

Stream alerts typically consist of an image, a short audio clip, and a message that describes what a viewer did. Many streams use animated gifs for images, which gives the alert a more dynamic feel. If you havent already, think about how you want the alerts to add to your streams identity. If you have custom overlays and a logo, it tends to look consistent if your alerts match the same color palette or aesthetic. Maybe theres a funny, four-second audio or video clip that captures the essence of your streaming persona that you can use. Get creative with it, and choose audio and video that speaks to your streams personality.

If youd rather find premade visual/audio alerts and are willing to spend some money, Nerd or Die has a strong collection of alerts and overlay packages that vary from around $10 to $30. Some packages also provide instructions on how to implement them into your OBS software easily. But dont feel like you need to spend money to create great stream alerts a simple image with audio can be just as effective as a professionally-designed alert, and can be catered more specifically to your stream.

Stream alerts are provided by a number of free third-party services, which are largely similar. This guide will cover two different stream alert services: Streamlabs, which is a little more beginner-friendly, and StreamElements, which provides a few more options. Both work with livestreaming on Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook Live. If youre looking for fast and easy, go with Streamlabs. If you have a specific image for your alerts that Streamlabs cant fulfill, then give StreamElements a try.

Streamlabs is the most popular choice for stream alerts, and for good reason. It provides one of the most user-friendly experiences for beginner streamers, with a quick and easy setup. This option is perfect if you only need a simple image + audio stream alert, or if youre new to stream alerts and overlays. Heres how to set it up.

Once your alert is customized to your liking, its time to add it to your stream. These instructions will differ slightly, depending on which OBS software you use to stream.

Conveniently, Streamlabs OBS provides a built-in source for Streamlabs alerts. When adding a new source in Streamlabs OBS, select Alert Box under Widgets. Then position the box wherever you would like the alerts to appear on your stream. Voila! Your alerts are all set up. If you change any alerts settings back on Streamlabs, theres no need to edit anything on your OBS; it will automatically update.

If you use OBS Studio, or another OBS software, there is one extra step to setting up your alerts. Back on the Streamlabs alerts options, right next to the Launch button we used earlier is the Copy button for your widget URL. Click that to copy the URL to your clipboard. Now in OBS Studio, add a new source and select Browser.

An options box will appear. Next to URL, paste the widget URL you copied from your Streamlabs settings. Click OK, and your alert box will be added to your stream. Position it wherever you would like alerts to appear onstream. If you then change any alerts settings back on Streamlabs, theres no need to edit anything on your OBS; it will automatically update.

StreamElements alerts are slightly more complex to set up, but they provide more options for customizing your overlay. Rather than providing an individual alert widget like Streamlabs, StreamElements allows you to fit multiple widgets into a big overlay, which can then be linked to your stream. Heres how.

Connecting your StreamElements alerts to your stream is relatively simple, and will be basically the same no matter which OBS software you use.

Back on the StreamElements alerts overlay editor, at the top right corner of the screen is a link button for your overlay URL. Click that to copy the URL to your clipboard. Now in your OBS, add a new source and select Browser.

An options box will appear. Next to URL, paste the widget URL you copied from StreamElements. Click OK, and your alert box will be added to your stream. If you change any alerts settings back on StreamElements, theres no need to edit anything on your OBS; it will automatically update.

See the article here:
How to add alerts to your Twitch and YouTube streams - Polygon